Sometimes it’s cool to catch a concert in Boulder that isn’t at Boulder or Fox Theatres. We love both of those venues, but there are so many lesser-appreciated venue spaces attached to bars and restaurants primarily in the downtown area. I include Mountain Sun Brewery Restaurant & Pub, Laughing Goat Coffeehouse, Connor O’Neil’s Irish Pub, and Lazy Dog Saloon all in this category. Perhaps the most underappreciated venue space downtown in Shine Restaurant & Gathering Place.

Brian Haas, pianist and de-facto bassist of Jacob Fred Jazz Odyssey, took a moment from his extensive travels to speak with the Grateful Web about the big year ahead for JFJO, including two new albums, one of which was recorded live in Denver, Colorado at Dazzle Jazz and is slated for vinyl release on Record Store Day.

The Mike Dillon Band and Jacob Fred Jazz Odyssey are set to launch a 16-date tour of the western United States. The run kicks off with three shows in Colorado beginning in Boulder on March 19. It then cuts North to Idaho and Montana before heading to the Pacific Northwest followed by a stretch down the West Coast to San Diego. The tour wraps in April with shows in Santa Fe, NM and Norman, OK.

With twenty-one records released through the genre bending marathon existence that is Jacob Fred Jazz Odyssey, the band has plenty of material to choose from. Original founder and ivory tickler Brian Haas, along with his well-versed cohorts, dug deep into their songbook for a set of re-worked classics spanning their twenty-year career last Thursday at Dazzle Jazz in Denver, Colorado.

Last week the Jacob Fred Jazz Odyssey played a total of four shows at Denver restaurant/lounge Dazzle. The quartet from Tulsa, OK did an early show and a late show on both Wednesday and Thursday, and I was in attendance at the early show on Thursday.